Scientific Reports (Jan 2021)

The quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno effects with driving fields in the weak and strong coupling regimes

  • Mehwish Majeed,
  • Adam Zaman Chaudhry

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81424-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Abstract Repeated measurements in quantum mechanics can freeze (the quantum Zeno effect) or enhance (the quantum anti-Zeno effect) the time-evolution of a quantum system. In this paper, we present a general treatment of the quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno effects for arbitrary driven open quantum systems, assuming only that the system–environment coupling is weak. In particular, we obtain a general expression for the effective decay rate of a two-level system subjected to arbitrary driving fields as well as periodic measurements. We demonstrate that the driving fields change the decay rate, and hence the quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno behavior, both qualitatively and quantitatively. We also extend our results to systems consisting of more than one two-level system, as well as a two-level system strongly coupled to an environment of harmonic oscillators, to further illustrate the non-trivial effect of the driving fields on the quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno effects.